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Amy Hillyard: Search underway for missing coffee shop owner at Oakland's Dimond Park
Authorities and volunteers were out searching Tuesday morning in Oakland's Dimond Park for a missing coffee shop owner who hasn't been seen since last Wednesday.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Billboards and flyers have gone up across Oakland as the search for a missing local business owner enters its third week. The family of Amy Hillyard, 52, is offering a $10,000 reward, hoping the funds will encourage anyone with information on her whereabouts to come forward.
While investigators continue to follow leads, Oakland police said there is currently no evidence of foul play.
The disappearance
What we know:
Hillyard, the co-owner of the popular Farley’s coffee shop, disappeared from the Cleveland Heights neighborhood on March 25. She was last seen around 5 p.m. on the 200 block of Radnor Road.
Police later recovered video footage showing Hillyard alone at Dimond Park around 4:30 p.m. on the day she went missing.
Family said she was wearing a white short-sleeved top, light-colored jeans, and white sneakers with black stripes. The Oakland Police Department stated she is considered at risk due to medical conditions.
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Community fixure
Local perspective:
Hillyard is a prominent member of her East Bay community, serving as the board president of the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir and working on various nonprofit boards. Alongside her husband, Chris Hillyard, she operates Farley’s East in Oakland and a sister café in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood.
"Amy's superpower is to bring out the best in people," her husband, Chris Hillyard, said, in a video update last week. "She's able to bring out everyone's superpowers. Now we need those powers to bring her home. Community is a big part of who Amy is."
Loved ones describe Hillyard, a mother of two daughters, as an avid hiker and a dedicated community member. Her husband said that the search efforts have involved as many as 400 volunteers scouring trails in the Oakland Hills and Dimond Park.
Holding on to hope
Despite the weeks of uncertainty, the family remains hopeful for her safe return.
"My daughters and I, of course, love Amy unconditionally," Chris Hillyard said. "We're suffering, and we just want her to come home."
The Oakland Police Department’s Missing Persons Unit asks anyone with information to call 510-238-3641.-3641.
The Source: BringAmyHome.com, along with previous reporting